A Peek at the Devil’s Playbook
We know the devil’s gameplan. Scripture gives us the inside scoop about several tools in Satan’s toolbox—schemes he employs in his efforts to thwart God’s purposes.
Articles for tag: Church Division
July 1, 2022
Healthy Churches Are Built on Trustworthy Leaders
By Ken Idleman In 2011, New York Times best-selling author Tina Rosenberg published Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World. The question she addressed in her secular book was, How do you get people to change for the better? How do you get them to live healthier lives . . . to diet, exercise, and not drink excessively? In short, how do you get individuals to grow in a positive direction? She concluded that the masses don’t change simply because they desire to change or by getting more information. Virtually everyone who smokes knows smoking is bad
November 1, 2021
The Story Behind Our Crumbling Christian Communities
By Tyler McKenzie Every minister frustrated with their congregation, every person leaving their church, and every millennial who is deconstructing needs to read the opening chapter on community in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’sLife Together. It might save your ministry, your membership, or even your faith. Our communities feel irreparably broken right now. The last 18 months have been relationally traumatic. Most of us have “had it out”—at least once—with someone we love. Maybe it was on the family text thread, over dinner one night, or in the comments section of social media. Or maybe you didn’t have it out. Maybe their outrageous
August 31, 2016
In ALL Things, Love
By Jim Tune For as long as I can remember, our movement has gravitated toward a familiar slogan: “In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; and in all things, love.” Still, we often find it difficult to offer liberty when our opinions clash, and the list of essentials varies from person to person and from church to church. One might expect that familiarity with such a gracious slogan would tilt us strongly toward accepting one another”s differences and respecting the cherished convictions of brothers and sisters who see things differently. However, our movement has been as vulnerable to division, splits, and
January 22, 2016
Are You Like a Cat or a Dog?
By Rick Chromey Cats and dogs are radically different beasts. Perhaps you”ve heard this joke: Dogs say, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, you must be a god,” while cats say, “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be a god!” Maybe that”s why God gives cats nine lives. They need a bit more grace for such foolish thinking. Nevertheless, a dog is loyal to a fault, protects the master, and loves to be petted. You call a dog by its name and it comes running, eager
January 26, 2014
To Congregate, or Not to Congregate?
By Don Bennett I”m convinced the sheep should not choose their shepherds. It”s time to get rid of policies and procedures that allow this. I spent my formative years in two Restoration Movement churches that seated their leadership through a voting process that usually occurred at an annual congregational meeting. This was the norm in the 1960s and “70s, with many churches actually allowing nominations from the floor on the day of the vote! As I witnessed this tradition over several years, I became convinced of this system”s flaws. For starters, few if any of those present and voting were
September 30, 2007
Four Seconds One Saturday
By Name Wittheld As the elders of [this church], we have allowed too much time to pass before seeking reconciliation with you. The words cut through the gray afternoon with the effect of a razor on paper. It was the opening line of a letter I had long since decided would never””could never””come. Now, in the fog of awakening from a nap, it was in my hands, dropped there by my wife with only the warning that it had made her cry. There was no soft lead-in to the thing, no opening paragraph to set the stage or hedge the
September 14, 2005
Their Leadership”“and Mine
Mark A. Taylor reflects on Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus, confronting divisiveness, performance pressure, and power in ministry—and realizing the book’s sharpest challenge is personal.
